Rutgers drops second straight game by double-digits to open season

The woeful start to the season continued Monday night for the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

The Scarlet Knights (0-2) fell to Elon (1-1) by a score of 66-54, making it their second consecutive double-digit loss to start the season.

Once again, junior guard Shriya Parker led the charge, this time tallying 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Sophomore guard KK Sanders was the only other Lady Knight in double figures with 11 points.

Rutgers fell behind early in the game and never seemed to close the gap on the Phoenix, led by Shay Burnett, who scored 20 points and added 9 rebounds. Elon was a dismal 9-for-22 from the free throw line but made up for it with a decent performance behind the arc. It was shooting from distance all night, where it finished 9-for-26.

The Knights, on the other hand, were a horrific 4-for-19 from three point range. What’s most surprising is that Rutgers, a team that rarely shoots it from range, chucked up 19 three-pointers.

After its loss against Chattanooga, head coach C. Vivian Stringer defended her team’s ability to shoot the three.

So far, that ability has not been displayed.

Through its first two games, it was 6-for-28.

Another facet in the game in which the Knights struggled with was rebounding.

It was outrebounded 55-37 and their frontcourt was often in foul trouble. Sophomore forward Victoria Harris and center Desiree Keeling both picked up two fouls apiece in the first quarter, and Keeling wound up fouling out with 3:42 left in the game.

At one point what seemed like an unwinnable blowout, Rutgers turned it into a game with a 26-7 run. Phoenix then responded with back-to-back three pointers to increase their lead and put the game away.

The Knights showed a lot of fight but came up short and dropped to 0-2 on the season. They have three games left on their four-game road trip and are back in action Thursday night at 7 p.m. against Wake Forest.

For updates on the Rutgers women's basketball team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.